Daisy Hill cruised to a comfortable 5-0 win over a youthful Ashton Athletic side at Brocstedes Park, in the second of their group games in the Atherton Charity Cup on Saturday afternoon, writes Ian Templeman.

An early goal from Jadel Yaduac and a double from Callum McHale had Daisy in control by half time, and further goals in the second half from Kaiden Barlow and Jack Lawder rounded off a good afternoon for the visitors.

Daisy manager Lee Hill was happy with the performance after the game.

“I thought we always looked dangerous”, said Hill.

“We used the ball well and created plenty of chances. We missed quite a few, and we could have had a few more goals.

“It was a game that served its purpose for us. Ashton put out a young side, and we put a stronger side out than previously, but also brought in a couple of lads we wanted to have a look at, and they started the game and slotted in well.

“The formation we are playing and the profile of the players we have got means that if we make changes it’s often like for like, so the performance levels of the team don’t drop.

“That was something we struggled a little bit with last season, but we now know we have lads who can come off the bench and affect the game in key moments if we do make changes, which is important”.

It was a game that Daisy dominated from the start, and Luke Roscoe had the effort on goal after just four minutes when he fired a shot wide at the far post.

However, the opening goal arrived six minutes later, when good work by Kyle Whittaker down the right led to him cutting the ball back for Jadel Yaduac to drive a shot into the top of the net from 12 yards.

A few minutes later, Daisy had to make an enforced substitution when Alex Dodd had to be replaced by Callum McHale, and within five minutes of entering the game the midfielder smashed home a 25 yarder to put Daisy two up.

McHale then grabbed his second of the afternoon 13 minutes later when he intercepted a misplaced pass across the edge of the penalty area, and buried a shot past the keeper. Three minutes from the break Declan Baldwin came close to adding a fourth for Daisy when his well struck shot rattled the crossbar, but the fourth goal finally arrived just after the hour when a neat build up down the left set up a chance for Kaiden Barlow to slot home from 8 yards at the far post.

As the game moved into the closing stages, McHale came close to bagging a hat trick when he hit the post with a volley from 12 yards, but seven minutes from time Jack Lawder rounded off a good afternoon for Daisy when he headed a fifth goal from close range.

Looking ahead to tonight’s final Atherton Charity Cup group game against Atherton LR at the Plumb Factory Stadium, which is also the last game in the build up to the opening league fixture this weekend away to Holker Old Boys, Hill said he will have one eye on Saturday when selecting the squad for tonight.

“We have got to manage minutes, and we also know there are lads who have been playing who won’t be available for the opening league game at Holker this Saturday.

“So we’ve got players who need more minutes and others who have played a bit more than others and probably need to rest a bit, but the team we put out against LR should still be a strong side”.

Kick off at the Plumb Factory Stadium tonight is at 7.45 pm.